The Roses Review: A Devilishly Hilarious Dark Comedy About Love & Marriage

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Starting in the late '90s and into the 21st century, director Jay Roach was one of the most revered comedy directors in Hollywood. Having helmed every installment of the "Austin Powers" franchise, as well as the hit comedy "Meet the Parents" (and the lesser sequel that followed), Roach found great success in bringing lots of laughter to the big screen. Though his comedic presence dwindled with underperforming comedies like "Dinner for Schmucks" and "The Campaign," Roach tapped into his serious side with dramas like the Sarah Palin-centric "Game Change," the historical Hollywood drama "Trumbo," and the Roger Ailes takedown "Bombshell." 

However, I'm thrilled to say that Jay Roach has returned to comedy with flying colors, thanks to "The Roses," a modern adaptation of Warren Adler's 1981 novel, which was previously adapted by Danny DeVito in "The War of the Roses," starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. 

"The Roses" follows Benedict Cumberbatch ("Doctor Strange," "Sherlock") and Olivia Colman ("The Favourite," "The Crown") as Theo and Ivy Rose, a British couple whose love sparked by happenstance in a London kitchen turned into a whirlwind romance that now finds them married and living in Northern California with two children, Hattie and Roy (first played by Delany Quinn and Ollie Robinson at a younger age, then Hala Finley and Wells Rappaport at 13).

At first, Theo and Ivy have a wonderful relationship where they're both equally supportive of each others' endeavors. Theo is a thriving architect who has been tasked with building a a high profile nautical museum in San Francisco while Ivy runs a cute but sparsely attended seaside seafood spot called We've Got Crabs near their home in Northern California. More often than not she's utilizing her bona fide culinary genius to feed her family, but she's clearly got the goods to be a great chef. They're cheeky but genuinely loving, and they make for a happy family.

Though the couple occasionally disagrees on the best approach to raising their children, especially when it comes to their consumption of massive amounts of sugar, thanks to Ivy's delectable desserts, they always manage to talk it out and go back to being a loving couple. They're so dedicated to each other that when Ivy purposely ingests a treat she's cooked that contains raspberries (which she's allergic to) just so she can see how delicious it is, Theo is ready with the epinephrine shot to alleviate the reaction. That's love!

But the winds end up changing drastically for the Roses, literally and figuratively.

When a nasty thunderstorm ends up destroying the museum that Theo worked so hard to build, largely due to a miscalculation and a bit of pride on his part, and an embarrassing moment in the aftermath goes viral, the patriarch finds himself out of work. Meanwhile, Ivy's seafood restaurant start booming in business after that same storm sends a San Francisco food critic into her establishment for shelter and a meal. Suddenly, Ivy is the triumphant breadwinner, booking customers months out, starting a restaurant franchise, and galavanting around the world with famous chefs — and Theo is forced to stay at home with the children. 

At first, Theo is wholly supportive of Ivy's newfound fame and rising success, and he takes his time with the children to turn them into finely tuned athletic machines who don't poison their bodies with sugar. Don't worry, the kids actually end up really getting into their new fitness regimen, which doesn't rub Ivy the right way, as she just wants them to have fun and enjoy some of her delectable treats. But Theo is also silently suffering and hates that he can't get back to work due to his recently ruined reputation.

Though Theo and Ivy start to get at each other's' throats a bit more, they're still mostly able to wash their hands and fall back into a loving embrace, even if it means shoving their differences deep down inside them. But of course, this wouldn't be an adaptation of "The War of the Roses" if that rift didn't gradually get bigger and darker, and that's where the fun begins.

Screenwriter Tony McNamara ("The Favourite," "The Great") has written a sharp screenplay that balances wonderful charm between Cumberbatch and Colman with some of the most biting barbs that a couple can deliver. As Theo and Ivy start to unravel and get more vicious, not even letting therapy repair their troubles, their takedowns, verbal and beyond, get more brutal and vindictive. It's the kind of word war that makes you laugh and cringe in pain at the same time. Since Cumberbatch and Colman are both classically trained actors, they manage to tap into the raw emotion that this kind of crumbling relationship ignites while still being dryly hilarious at the same time. Cumberbatch has never been funnier, and Colman is razor sharp.

Around them is a magnificent ensemble of supporting players, including Andy Samberg as Theo's best friend Barry and Kate McKinnon as his flirtatious, overbearing wife, who makes not so subtle advances towards Theo, even when Barry is within earshot. Each of the "SNL" veterans bring different personalities to the table that add a lighter but still dysfunctional marriage to the proceedings of another flavor. Plus, Jamie Demetriou and Zoë Chao (both of "The Aferparty") make for another hilariously mismatched couple who bring even more comedic disorder. Even Theo and Ivy's kids get some hilarious moments as they witness their parents' destruction, both seeming to be much more mature and aware of their relationship woes, even at just 13 years old.

Relationship comedies like this tend to bring plentiful laughs, but the drama that accompanies the hilarity doesn't always land as firmly. With "The Roses," thanks to McNamara's impeccable script, Roach's gradual escalation of both the comedy and the pain, and Cumberbatch and Colman's authentic performances, the tragic side of this struggling marriage hits just as hard as the punchlines. While you find yourself laughing at the lengths to which Theo and Ivy will go to hurt and sabotage each other when the s**t really hits the fan, you'll also wince at the pain they inflict with some of their more damning darts that come from a painfully honest place. It might even be therapeutic for a lot of couples out there.

Though the movie occasionally struggles in the same way that some of Judd Apatow's comedies did, thanks to the prominence of rich, white people problems driving the main story, there's still a grounded, emotional core that hits in a more heartfelt way than the likes of "Knocked Up" with Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl or "This Is 40" with Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. Not to disparage those perfectly enjoyable comedies, but "The Roses" is undoubtedly a more mature, smart comedy for adults, and it's not always overtly raunchy or over-the-top in its graphic nature, though it does have its lewd moments and coarse language. It's simply geared towards long-married people who know the difficulties of navigating a relationship like this. That's what makes it thoroughly refreshing, especially in a landscape where major studios have largely abandoned grown-up comedies that aren't also some kind of blockbuster genre hybrid. 

Theo and Ivy are simultaneously lovable and despicable, and you'll find yourself rooting for each of them at different times and hating them the next. Neither is made to look definitively better than the other, and they're both equally delightful and deplorable as their marriage keeps hitting new lows. Perhaps their best and worst moment comes at a show-stopping dinner party in a newly built dream house designed by Theo, where he and Ivy get in an escalating war of words that turns into a heightened, even deadly argument in which even their friends find a certain amount of amusing yet awkward glee. Only actors like Cumberbatch and Colman could pull off such an exaggerated confrontation that comes to a startling but satisfying conclusion. 

"The Roses" is the kind of movie you should be seeing with a crowd, even if it doesn't seem to demand a big screen experience. See it with your parents. See it with your significant other. Just see it.

/Film Rating: 8.5 out of 10

"The Roses" opens in theaters on August 29, 2025.